1. Tell us something we don’t know. (Anything!)
Throughout my life, I’ve lived in three different countries, for more than a decade each! I’m constantly fascinated by the way the invisible cultures that surround us impact our views, and how similar we all are at the core of our humanity.
2. Which fiction book would you recommend to researchers and innovators in healthcare, and why?
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, beautifully illustrates the journey of embracing uncertainty, to uncover new perspectives while researching, and bringing back valuable insights to inform and facilitate strategic decision making.
3. What are you working on right now that you’re excited about?
Creating interactive experiences to reveal the story of how our genes affect our health, and providing actionable steps for people to take charge of their wellbeing. It’s really amazing how much our everyday choices and lifestyle habits affect our long-term health, and motivating to have a visualization of this progress towards change.
4. Who’s doing something that you admire in healthcare today, and why is it so cool?
The VR Vaccine project is an incredible example of utilizing high-tech for good. Through immersive storytelling, children’s fear of the needle is alleviated during a vaccination session by having them go on a virtual adventure instead, while the nurse administers the shot.
5. What’s the biggest barrier to getting things done in your line of work?
Regulations on direct-to-consumer health products.
6. Imagine you win an award for impacting healthcare. What did you do?
I’ve transformed a dreaded healthcare experience into a delightful moment to remember!
7. What advice would you give innovators in healthcare?
Collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams while ideating, and use every chance you get to co-create with the people who’ll be experiencing your final design/work/project. This has helped me tremendously in the past, and has brought light into my blindspots early on and has been a great opportunity to obtain new perspectives.
About Maryam Zahedi
Maryam Zahedi is a designer, researcher, and strategist, passionate about creating meaningful experiences that help improve people’s lives. She is Head of Design at January AI.
In her previous role at 23andMe, she combined the power of human-centered design and technology to create engaging digital experiences that tell the story of how our genes affect our health, motivating people to make informed lifestyle changes that help reduce their risk of developing preventable diseases.
Previous to that, she collaborated closely with behavior scientists and health coaches at Carrot, a health-tech startup, where she conducted ethnographic interviews and led interdisciplinary brainstorm sessions to inform and inspire design ideas for the Pivot program. Pivot empowers people to quit smoking, through a personalized journey that raises awareness of patterns and triggers, and engages through evidence-based content that’s empathetic to the challenges of long-term behavior change.
Such synergistic collaborations in multidisciplinary teams, where people are excited about making things and experimenting with new ideas, are where Maryam finds her flow. As part of a team solving for motivating teens to drive safer, she was granted with two patents, where she applied data visualization, game mechanics, and intrinsic motivational strategies, to create mobile apps that engage, delight, and solve for real human needs.
Maryam graduated from Stanford University in 2013, with a M.S. in Product Design, focusing on the Design Thinking methodology for innovation. She received her B.Arch. in Architecture in 2011, from California College of the Arts, where she was awarded with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Certificate of Merit.
Through the process of understanding human needs and formulating insights, Maryam applies her diverse background in digital, physical, and spatial experience design to create new products, services, and systems that are meaningful and impactful for the people using them.
In her previous role at 23andMe, she combined the power of human-centered design and technology to create engaging digital experiences that tell the story of how our genes affect our health, motivating people to make informed lifestyle changes that help reduce their risk of developing preventable diseases.
Previous to that, she collaborated closely with behavior scientists and health coaches at Carrot, a health-tech startup, where she conducted ethnographic interviews and led interdisciplinary brainstorm sessions to inform and inspire design ideas for the Pivot program. Pivot empowers people to quit smoking, through a personalized journey that raises awareness of patterns and triggers, and engages through evidence-based content that’s empathetic to the challenges of long-term behavior change.
Such synergistic collaborations in multidisciplinary teams, where people are excited about making things and experimenting with new ideas, are where Maryam finds her flow. As part of a team solving for motivating teens to drive safer, she was granted with two patents, where she applied data visualization, game mechanics, and intrinsic motivational strategies, to create mobile apps that engage, delight, and solve for real human needs.
Maryam graduated from Stanford University in 2013, with a M.S. in Product Design, focusing on the Design Thinking methodology for innovation. She received her B.Arch. in Architecture in 2011, from California College of the Arts, where she was awarded with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Certificate of Merit.
Through the process of understanding human needs and formulating insights, Maryam applies her diverse background in digital, physical, and spatial experience design to create new products, services, and systems that are meaningful and impactful for the people using them.
